Third-Quarter Earnings: Bellwethers To Watch

It's report card season for America's publicly-traded companies and while expectations have been trimmed modestly in recent months profits are still expected to be up comfortably from a year ago. While company-specific issues throw a wildcard into any sweeping generalizations about corporate earnings, these companies, selected by Standard & Poor's Capital IQ analyst Christine Short, are good bellwethers across the different industries that make up the S&P 500. (All estimates from S&P Cap IQ as of Oct. 12)